The Return of The Lone Jamie
by Bowlingforshrimp
Summary: Ranger gets a picture of Jamie in the mail...and he and Tank and Stephanie go to Florida to rescue her from the clutches of JACK SUMMER! BUM BUM BUMMMMMM see I told you I'd write a sequal
1. Chapter 1

My name is Stephanie Plum, and I'm a bounty hunter, more or less. I have two sisters. The older one is Valerie. She was the one who got all A's and never once tried to jump off the roof in attempt to fly. The younger one is Jamie. She disappeared five years ago and suddenly reappeared a few months ago. After spending a week here getting shot at, flirting with Ranger and Tank, and getting shot at some more, she disappeared again but sends me a couple letters a week. My closet is full of polariod's, letters, cocoanuts, presents, and drawings. Right at that moment I was reading the latest letter from Jamie. She was in the Caribbean.

_Dear Stephie-kins,_

_HOWDEEEEE HO! Jezus Christ on a moped it's freaking nice here. It would be funner if YOU WERE HERE! Howzit' going? Did you get the bracelet I sent you? That guy had better have delivered it to the post office…I gave him 20 bucks. ANYWHO I'm learning how to SURF! There are SO many HOT guys down here (none of them even BEGIN to compare to Ranger/Tank/Woody/Vince/Lester/Bobby) and I got the HOTTEST one for my surfing teacher. Tell Tank that he was right. Surfing IS hard. I keep falling off the freakin' thing but then COOPER rescues me. HOW HOT IS THAT! Heeheehee. So anywho, say hi to EVERYONE for me. Oh and tell Ranger that I went back to The Diving Board…for old time's sake. Don't ask, he'll know what I'm talking about. _

_Just so you don't wig out, I won't be in contact for about a month after tomorrow. I'm travelin' around South America with some friends but I can't say wear. Sorta like I'd have to kill you if I told you. _

_Loooooooooooove oxoxoxoxoxoxox_

_Jamie_

_Ps, tell Grandma that Cooper has an EXCELLENT package! Tell Vinnie that He would like some of these birds down here, and call Ranger 'Ricky' for me._

I laughed at that last bit. Grandma would appreciate that. I sighed, stood up and headed for the shower. Every morning before I eat or shower I get up and check my mail. I usually get a letter or something from Jamie twice or three times a week. I stripped and stepped into the shower. I stood under the hot water until I became a giant pink raisin. I stepped out of the shower, deciding on the natural-drying of my hair, added the minimum makeup Jersey required, and made myself some breakfast. I dropped a couple of Cheez Doodles into Rex's cage and headed out.

Lula was on the fake leather couch pushed up against the wall and Connie was at her desk on the phone when I swung through the doors. "Anything new come in?" I asked.

"There's a couple here you might like," said Connie, motioning to the files on her desk. I noticed Lula was looking more sullen than usual and wondered if she had had a bad night last night. I picked up the files and flipped through them. The first was an easy pick-up—it was a guy I knew in high school, Walter Dunphy, aka The Mooner. I looked at the second file and my jaw dropped.

"LULA!" She had been arrested for assault. Apparently some former client had recognized her and tried to get her to come back into the business. Lula first had smacked him in the head with her purse and then kicked him in the 'nads. The former client had gone to the police saying she mugged him.

I guessed that was why she was looking so pissed-off. "Why did you skip out?" I asked her.

"Duh. So Ranger could take me in." she said.

"Ranger only takes the high-risk cases," said Connie

"GET HER OUT OF HERE!" yelled Vinnie from his inner office.

"Come on," I said, "Let's just go now."

Lula shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "Nu-uhn. I'm not moving off this couch 'til Ranger gets here."

"THEN CALL RANGER! DO ANYTHING! JUST GET HER OUT OF MY SIGHT!" yelled Vinnie.

I sighed and hauled out my cell phone. Ranger is an incredibly hot, sexy, wonderful mercenary who sometimes does skip tracing for Vinnie. He's Cuban American, wears Bulgari, has offices all up and down the east coast, could melt ice with a look, and scares the hell out of me.

"Yo," he answered.

"I have a problem," I said, getting straight to the point.

"Let me guess, you want me to fix it, right?" We'd done this bit before.

"Yeah."

"Angry skip? Crazy stalker? Handcuffed to your shower curtain rod?" God he knows me too well.

"Well…it's a skip. It's Lula. She's not going to the police station unless you take her in."

There were a few moments of silence, and I suspected he was regretting ever getting to know me. "Babe," he said and disconnected.

"Well?" Lula wanted to know.

"He's on his way." I think.

I stayed until Ranger came and picked up Lula. Then I drove over to the Burg to Mooner's house. I walked up the front steps and knocked on the door.

"Dude," said the Mooner. A man of many words he is not.

"You missed your court date again," I said.

"Don't I know it. I was going to go, but it's not my fault, seriously. I was in the bedroom smoking a joint, getting psyched up, when suddenly I started, like, _growing._ I was like in Alice and Wonderland, you know? Like when she eats that candy and starts growing. I swear, dude, I was too big to get out the door. When I finally shrunk again it was too late to go so I figured I'd just wait for you to get here."

Logical. "Why didn't you just turn yourself in?"

He just stared at me. "Dude."

I drove Mooner to the cop-shop and got him rebonded. On the way back to my car I ran into Crazy Carl Costanza, my cop friend.

He grinned at me. "Looks like you've had that Mini for a while, Steph. It must be a record for you."

I rolled my eyes and angled into my car. "Probably not for long," I said and he stood there laughing as I drove out of the lot.

I had dinner at my parent's house that night. Nothing really exciting happed unless you count Grandma Mazur dumping gravy on my dad's head because he called her 'old bat' one time too many exciting. I climbed up to my apartment laden down with leftovers. There were two messages on my machine.

The first was from Morelli, "Hey cupcake. Bob misses you. Maybe you could come over tomorrow night and have some pizza and see Bob. I'm not doing anything."

Mmm tempting. The next was from Ranger. "Babe, you owe me for today." Was all he said. I shivered at the thought of what I owed him. I tried to call Morelli back but he wasn't answering so I watched Ghostbusters and went to bed.

I got up the next morning, checked my mail, but didn't get anything from Jamie. I had breakfast, stood in the shower until my skin threatened to shrivel up, and when I was on my way into my bedroom I ran into a brick wall.

"Ow," I said, bouncing back.

Ranger put his hands on my shoulders to steady me. "Pack your bags, babe, we're going to Florida."

"What?"

His eyes were unusually hard. He took a picture out of his pocket and handed it to me. I looked down and inhaled sharply. It was of Jamie, close up so just her head and shoulders showed. And she looked like someone had beaten her bloody.

"Our friend Jack Summer sent this too me," he said, voice tight. Jack Summer is a slimly, evil guy who is out to get Jamie. She had done something years ago that she can't even remember that had pissed him off. He's been after her ever since.

"Fuck," I said weakly. I only had a towel on, and one hand was clutching it to my chest and the other hand was holding the picture, shaking. Ranger's hand was still on my bare shoulder. In any other situation I would be having a hot flash. Right now it seemed more like a cold sweat. I must have stopped breathing because my head went light. Ranger led me over to the bed, pushed me down and shoved my head between my legs. "Breathe," he said, sounding like he was having a hard time with it himself.

The bells stopped clanging and I sat up. "Now what?" I asked.

"Now we contact my brother in Miami and fly down there. The return address on the envelope the picture was sent in was Miami. My brother Jordan runs the Rangeman building down there."

Miami. Brother. One thing at a time. I needed to get dressed. I looked up at Ranger. "I need to get dressed."

He nodded. "Pack whatever you're going to need for about a week. Tank is waiting downstairs with the motor running. Our plane leaves in an hour." He said and left.

SHIT. I can't leave TODAY! Today is Valerie's Anniversary…sortof. A year a go today she and her fiancé, Albert, had skipped out on the wedding and fled to Disney World. And what about Rex? My mother was going to pitch a fit. And Morelli was going to be _pissed_. I took a deep breath. That didn't matter now. Jamie was in trouble. I got dressed and started shoving things into a duffel bag. I went into the bathroom and packed the necessary toiletries.

We ended up taking Rex with us. I would drop him off at my parents house.

"WHERE!" said my mom, when I told her where I was going.

"Miami. With Ranger. And Tank. They need help with a skip." I didn't want her to worry, so this didn't count as a lie.

She eyed me suspiciously. "Tonight is your sister's Anniversary," she said. As if anything else mattered.

"I know. Tell I said Happy Anniversary. See you in a week." Well that's what Ranger said. I left Rex with my mother and got back into the black SUV.

"I need to stop by Morelli's," I said. Tank nodded and drove away from the curb.

I sighed heavily, already making up a speech in my head.


	2. Southward Ho

AA sorry I didn't do this whole dealio in the first chapter...so yeah this is my sequal...and I actually have some ideas as to where it's going! (victory dance GO ME!) ummm I don't own anything exceptJAMIE and Cement-head (haha)so enjoy! and I also forgot the name the first chapter. It was suppose to be called The Return Of Jamie...Sortof. hope you like ti!

"You're going _where_ with _who_!" Morelli yelled.

"Florida. With Ranger. And Tank. Jamie was kidnapped and we have to go find her." I said.

"Why do Ranger and Tank need you?" he asked, his eyes traveling to the black SUV idling at the curb.

"They just do."

I braced myself, expecting him to morph into Jealous Mode. But all he did was sigh and slump against the door jamb. "When are you going to be back?"

"Ranger said a week. I'll call you when we arrive."

He nodded, pulled me into a bone-melting kiss and let me go. "I still trust you, you know," he said, a half smile hovering at his lips.

"Yeah I know and it's still really rotten of you," I said.

He grinned and waved good bye as we drove away. I sighed and slouched back against the seat. "Well that was easier than I thought it would be," I said out loud, not to anyone in particular.

The drive to airport was so silent it drove me nuts. I was happy to get out of that SUV and in the middle of all the noise of the airport. We arrived with a half hour to spare. Ranger and Tank stowed their guns and other weaponry under the seats. Ranger looked back at me, "Let me guess. You didn't bring your gun." I shrugged and did a palm's up. Ranger shook his head a fraction and I followed him and Tank into the airport.

The security guards eyed Ranger and Tank suspiciously but didn't approach. I only got held up once in the metal detector because of a pack of gum in my pocket. Walking to our gate, I eyed Ranger. It seemed weird for him to not have any weapons on him. He was probably carrying _some_ sort of weapon. Probably nun chucks or something. Ranger caught my eye and did the ESP thing.

"Yeah babe, I've got a blackjack in my boot. One of your sister's trade secrets."

Every single woman at the gate was practically drooling at the sight of Ranger and Tank. I didn't even know I was giving one of the more brave women a death glare until Tank laughed at me.

"Nobody trespasses on your territory," said Tank.

"No way. You guys are MINE."

Ranger and Tank both grinned at that.

On the airplane I was sandwiched between Tank and Ranger. Lula would be SO jealous if she knew. Ranger looked like he was slipping into his zone. I wasn't up to the whole zone-thing so I turned to Tank.

"You surf?" I asked.

Tank raised his eyebrows. "Used to. Not anymore."

Wow. "Jamie said to tell you that she's taking surfing lessons. She said it as really hard."

Tank grinned. "She'll catch on fast." His smile faded. "I swear I'm going to kill Summer."

Eek. Not before Ranger does, that's for sure, I thought. "Doesn't she do stuff to you all the time?" Like dumping a bottle of hot sauce in your coffee. Calling you Patty-cake. Putting itching powder in your underwear.

"Yeah but she's like a little sister to all of us," said Tank, "And sometimes not a sister, if you know what I mean." I knew what he meant.

That was the last thing anyone said. The rest of the four-hour flight was silent. When we got off the plane I was bombarded with sunshine and half naked people on rollerblades. There was a black SUV waiting for us on the curb and I guess Ranger's brother was also a favorite of the car fairy. The guy who was driving was built like Tank…except bigger. I don't know how he fit. He was big and silent and looked as sturdy as a four foot thick cement wall.

The drive was, no surprise, silent. Ranger sat in front with Cement-head and Tank sat in back with me. We passed beaches filled with half naked to full naked people, all shapes and sizes. Fat guys in speedos, fat women in thongs, on rollerblades, in convertibles. Welcome to Miami. During the whole drive all I was thinking about was Jamie and the picture. Was she okay? Was she even still alive? She had told me in her last letter she would be unreachable…maybe she had already been kidnapped then.

The drive ended when we pulled up to the gate of a building similar to the Rangeman in Trenton. Utterly forgettable on the outside. The gate opened and we drove down a ramp into the underground parking lot. There was a man waiting for us in the garage. He had Ranger's eyes and mouth and skin tone, but he looked older and more worn. Ranger's brother Jordan. We got out of the car and Cement-head took my duffel bag and disappeared through the stairwell door. Jordan was a tall. Taller than Tank. He cricked an arm around Ranger's neck and gave him a noogie.

"Hey little bro. You lost her again, eh?" I assumed he was talking about Jamie.

Ranger released his head out of his brother's grip, grabbed my hand and tugged me forward. "Jordan, this is Stephanie Plum, Jamie's older sister. Steph, this is my older brother Jordan."

I shook Jordan's hand. It was gargantuan and warm. "I've heard a lot about you," he said, "and now I can see where Jamie gets her good looks." I blushed about eight shades and Jordan grinned 100-watts. I could right away that he wasn't like Ranger. Jordan looked like he smiled more and wasn't as serious all the time. I liked him instantly.

"Stop embarrassing her," said Ranger.

Jordan's grin widened and he led us inside. "I have two studio apartments open right now, so two of you are going to have to share. One of the apartments is two-bedroom, so it should be okay."

Ranger looked over at me. "You want to share, babe?" He asked, "Tank is a sucky roommate."

Hmmm…probably a bad idea, but what choice did I have? I didn't want to land Ranger with a sucky roommate.

"Yeah sure,"

The apartment was done in earth tones, was nicely furnished, and a well-stocked fridge. That was a first for me. One bedroom was attached to the bathroom, the other was on the other side of the living room. The kitchen opened up to a small dining room. My duffel bag was on the bed of the bedroom attached to the bathroom. That's weird. How did Cement-head know I was staying here?

"I told Jordan we would be sharing a room, babe, and Cement-head's name is Dale."

Oh boy. I said something out loud again without knowing it. I turned to Ranger and raised an eyebrow. "You _told_ Jordan we were staying together?" I asked, "You just _assumed_ I would share with you?"

A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. "Yeah. Let's go to the control room and start looking for Jamie."

I sighed. I was relying on denial-land but it betrayed me to reality. "I have to call Morelli. Where's the control room?"

"Fifth floor. Same as Rangeman in Trenton," he said and left the apartment. I found a cordless phone in my bedroom and dialed Morelli.

"What?"

"Having a bad day?"

"Sort of. They just found Vito Grizolli's ex-partner floating in the river. How's Miami?"

"There's half-naked people everywhere."

"Oh boy."

"Yeah so I think the competition is rising. You better be half naked when I get home or I probably won't like you anymore."

Morelli grunted. "So where are you staying?"

"At the Rangemen building." No point in telling him I'm sharing an apartment with Ranger.

"Uh-huh."

"Yep, so I gotta go, we have to start looking for Jamie."

"Good luck. I love you," said Morelli.

"I l-l-like you too," I said. God I'm such a moron.


	3. Spawn of Batman

So here's the third Chapter Three. I had fun with Ranger's kid. I still have ideas rattling around in my head so I'm going to WRITE WRITE WRITE!

The control room was just like the Trenton one. Jordan, Tank, and Ranger were standing in front of a computer. Cement-head, or Dale, was at the computer, doing a search. I came up and stood behind Ranger.

"Anything come up?"

"We're looking to see if Summer has any other residence down here. Tank checked out the house that the letter came from but it was empty."

Damn.

"Summer isn't stupid. He probably found a random address in the phone book and used it as a return address. Since the address was Miami, he probably is still in Florida."

Florida was a big state. Miami was a big city. Hell the neighborhoods were big. How were we going to find Jamie?

"We'll find her," said Ranger firmly, "And even if we don't, she'll contact one of us at some point. She never goes a couple weeks without calling me or Tank."

"She told me that she was going to be unreachable for the next month," I said, remembering her letter, "She's going to South America with some of her friends but she didn't say where."

"Unreachable? Did you try her phone?" Jamie _always_ answers her cell phone. Ranger told me that she one time she was in a shootout with three guys and still answered her phone. The only time she doesn't answer is if she's unconscious…or dead. I shuddered at that last thought.

"No. She said she'd be unreachable so I assumed that meant her phone as well. Oh and I'm suppose to tell you that she went back to the diving board." I added.

Ranger's mouth creased into a smile. "The diving board? I remember that."

"What happened?" I asked. She had mentioned that before when she was here and I never found out what it was about.

Ranger's smile widened. "Sorry babe, I signed a blood oath not to reveal to another soul about what happened on the diving board."

Jeez.

We did searches into the afternoon. We found an apartment, a house that Summer rented out, and we found his mother's house. Jamie met him here, so I guess he still lived here. Ranger said we'd wait until late to go snooping. I don't know why he was bringing me with him and Tank and Jordan, but I suspected it had to do with Jamie being my sister and Ranger wanting me to be in on the investigation and know what was going on.

At three o'clock Ranger looked at his watch and stood. "Come on, babe," he said to me. I followed him out of the control room and down the garage. He angled himself into a shiny black Porsche and I got into the passenger seat.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"My daughter gets out of school in ten minutes. I thought I might surprise her."

Omigod. I get to meet the offspring of Ricardo Carlos Manoso. The spawn of Batman. The Wizard-Child. Daughter of the Cuban Sex God. Jamie told me about her. She said his daughter was funny and smart and a knock-out to-be. Apparently she and Jamie got close when Jamie met Ranger's family.

The Porsche wound through neighborhoods of stucco houses and richly colored apartment buildings. Finally he pulled in front of a large school. Avocado Middle & High School. Funny name.

"First year of middle school," said Ranger.

Ranger parked on the curb right in front of the school. Mini-vans and sedans were lining up along the sidewalk, ready for the after school rush. The bell rang and kids piled out the doors and down the front steps. Ranger got out of the Porsche and I followed. We were standing on the sidewalk, and I was about to ask something when I heard "DADDY!" and a little girl ran up and jumped into Ranger's arms.

Jamie had been right. Ranger passed on a lot of genes to his daughter. Same 200-watt smile, same hair, same skin tone, same eyes. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and his arms around hers, holding her up. She sat back in his arms and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Have you seen Jamie recently?"

She grinned mischievously. "Yeah a couple weeks ago, she came by and we skipped school together." Her eyes widened, "Is she okay?"

"Summer got a hold of her. She's not answering her phone." His daughter's eyes widened some more. She caught sight of me standing behind Ranger and the mischievous smile came back. She looked back at Ranger.

"Girlfriend? Wife? Maid? Friends with benefits?" This kid was too smart for her own good.

Ranger set her down on the sidewalk and crossed his arms over his chest. She had to crane her neck back to look up at him. "How do you even know what 'friends with benefits' means?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Hello? I go to a public middle school plus high school. I know these things." She had a point.

Ranger shook his head and introduced me. "This is my partner in bounty huntering, and friend, Stephanie Plum. Steph, this is my daughter Jazz."

She grinned and shook my hand. "Are you Jamie's sister?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. She told me a lot about you and all the cars you blew up."

I grimaced and narrowed my eyes at Ranger. "Is that the only thing I'm known for around here?"

Ranger grinned but before he answered Jazz piped up. "That's not the only thing. Dad told me about the restaurant you blew up. And the funeral home. And the person. Who's Mama Mac?"

I rolled my eyes. "She was this horrible ancient Italian lady with a mutant mole on her face. And _I_ didn't blow her up. Constantine Stiva did."

She laughed at me and started to climb into the back of the Porsche. A voice behind us made her stop.

"Jasmine Clara Williams just _what_ do you think you're doing?" I turned around to see a blond, leggy, gorgeous woman in a blue suit and heels. "You know you're not suppose to get in cars with strangers." Her voice was so cold you could almost feel the chill.

"I'm going with dad," said Jazz, glowering at who I assumed was her mother.

She didn't answer. She looked over at Ranger. "What are _you_ doing here?" she cast a look at me and her eyes did a once over. It didn't look like she approved of what she saw. Stupid bitch, I wanted to say.

"I'm visiting my daughter," Ranger said, voice quite, eyes narrowed, "is that a problem?"

A small, humorless smile spread across her lips. "As a matter of fact, it is. As I recall correctly the court ordered that you weren't allowed to come near her without my consent, what with your dangerous job and all."

I just stood there on the sidewalk, unnoticed. There were daggers being shot from both sets of brown eye and I didn't want to get caught in the line of fire.

"And who is _this,_" said the woman, gesturing towards me. I felt my eyes narrow but didn't respond. She looked at me again, the smile still hanging from her mouth.

"I see you've lowered your standards, Ric," she said, looking me up and down again. I wasn't looking my best, but not my worst either. I was in my usual outfit of jeans and stretchy white tee shirt, and doc martins. My hair might not be in the best state, but hell I just got off a plane. Cut me some slack. I was exhausted from searching and worrying about Jamie. My eyes narrowed some more but it was Jazz who beat me to the retort.

"Oh shut the hell up Mom! You wouldn't know pretty if it smacked you in the face! And I'm going with dad whether you like it or NOT!" with that, she climbed into the back of the Porsche and slammed the door.

We left her standing dumbstruck on the sidewalk. Ranger pulled away from the curb, not looking back. Me on the other hand, I was still fuming.

"No offense Ranger and Jazz, but she's a BITCH." I said.

"Don't worry about it," said Ranger, "I've known that for a while."

"She's been like that ever since—" she stopped talking suddenly. Ranger's grip tightened on the wheel. I assumed she meant ever since they got a divorce. Ever since Ranger's ex-wife cheated on him.

We arrived at the Ramgeman building a little past four. To make up for Ranger's ex showing up, Ranger took us to get ice cream. He wasn't going to have any until Jazz bought him a double scoop of strawberry and told him to sit his ass down and that we weren't leaving until he ate the entire thing. You gotta admire the girl.

"Is Uncle Tank here too?" Jazz wanted to know as we all piled into the elevator.

"Yup," said Ranger. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. She smiled and leaned back against him. I felt like I shouldn't be right here in their father-daughter moment, but I think they were oblivious to my presence.

The elevator doors pinged open and revealed the control room. Tank was at a computer, but didn't turn around. The mischievous smile took over Jazz's mouth and she crept up behind Tank.

Apparently she had inherited Ranger's skills as well. Tank didn't turn around. He was totally oblivious. Jazz crept right up behind him.

"HI UNCLE TAAAAAAANK!" she yelled. Tank jumped about three feet in the air, landed on his feet and whirled around.

"Jesus fucking Christ on a MOPED," he said, hand over heart. And then he grabbed Jazz and swung her over his shoulder. Jazz was laughing her head off, and even I was giggling a little.

"Christ on a moped?" I asked Tank.

He shrugged. "Something Jamie says."

"Speaking of Jamie," said Ranger, "have we made any progress?"

"I called some of her friends. They all told me the same thing. She contacted them a week ago and told them she would be unreachable for a while and not to worry. Tonight we should find out more."

Ranger nodded. Tank dumped Jazz onto his chair and started tickling her. She squealed with laughter and struggled to get away.

"I don't think she can breathe," said Ranger, eyeing his daughter gasping through her laughter, "you better lay off a little."

Tank released Jazz and grinned at Ranger, "Kill-joy," he said.

Jazz hugged Ranger around the waist. "Can I stay here with you and Stephanie and Tank? Please please please? With sugar and a cherry on top?"

"I don't sugar and cherries are very appealing to mister Health Nut over here," I said, "I think you better promise sprouts and tofu."

"With sprouts and tofurkey and whole grain wheat bran muffins on top?"

"Well when you put it that way, yes, you can stay. But you'll have to clear it with your mother first. I don't want her calling the police."

Jazz did a victory dance and took Ranger's cell phone out of his pocket. She dialed a number and waited. "Mom? It's Jazz. I'm going to stay with Ranger and Stephanie while they're here ok? Bye." I don't think she even gave her mother time to respond. She just hung up the phone and gave it back to Ranger. She grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the elevator.

"Now me and Stephanie are going to go get to know each other while you workaholics have no fun."

When we got back to the apartment I was sharing with Ranger, Jazz and I sat down on the couch.

"So," she said, sitting criss-cross facing me, "How long have you known my dad?"

"A few years," I said.

"How did you meet?"

"I just started bounty-huntering and he was my mentor."

"Have you ever been his girlfriend?"

For a night, I suppose. "No,"

"hmmmm….Well those are all my questions. Do you have any?"

Omigod. This could be my ultimate weapon. "Why did your mom and Ranger get divorced?" I pretty much knew, but I wanted to get her side of the story.

She sighed and slumped her shoulders. "It was all _my_ fault they got divorced." She said.

Uh oh. "Why?"

She sighed again. "It was when I was four. I have a pretty good memory so I sortof remember what happened. Mom kept having men over when Dad was at work. She told me they were uncles. So one day me and dad are eating ice-cream outside and I see one of the men so I start calling him. 'Uncle Jerry! Uncle Jerry!' I yelled. He didn't hear me but dad looked at me and asked who it was. And, being the stupid four-year-old I was, I said 'Uncle Jerry comes over all the time when you're not here and sometimes I hear funny noises coming out of mommy's room.'

"That night I was told to go to bed but I heard mom and dad screaming at each other all night. After that they got divorced."

Omigod. "Jeez," I said.

"Yeah."

From Jazz I found out that Ranger and Tank grew up together, Tank was Ranger's best man. Jazz told me that she was a 'mistake' but her mother's mother, being a devout catholic, wouldn't let her get an abortion. Ranger's favorite color was orange, go figure, and Tank's favorite food was Macaroni & Cheese. Tank's father walked out on him and his mother and three sisters when he was twelve. Ranger grew up with three sisters, a brother, his parents, and his grandparents in all one house in Trenton. His mom's side of the family lived in Miami. He, his brother, and Tank joined the army together and when Ranger and Tank got out of the Ranger's, Ranger went to Miami to see family and met his ex, Tiffany. Cripes.

Ranger first started Rangeman in Miami, eventually handing it over to his brother and establishing another branch in Trenton to be closer to the family he grew up with. Tank followed him to Trenton and together they built Rangeman up to what it is now.

"Wow," I said.

"No freaking kidding," said Jazz.


	4. A little B & E and some fatherly love

Veriea Fornnan: A moped is a motorized bycicle…kinda like a motorcycle but way smaller….like a dirt bike sortof.

Sannaoo: I'm not a Joe OR Ranger fan, I'm just staying true to the books.

**Three **

Ranger came down for dinner around six, bearing pizza, soda, and beer.

"Can I have some?" Jazz asked, eyeing Ranger as he opened a bottle.

Ranger looked at her for a beat and handed the bottle over. Jazz took a generous gulp and gagged. "Oh-my-jolly-green-giant that stuff is GROSS! Why'd you let me take some?" she yelled at Ranger.

He shrugged. "You gotta learn the hard way, kiddo."

She glared at him and took a soda. "You're a bad parent, giving a kid alcohol. You should be arrested."

"I can give _my_ kid beer if I want to. It's just other kids I have to watch out for."

"Why can you give _me_ beer and not other kids?"

"'Cause I own you. You have no rights. I can do with you what I please."

"No you can't," said Jazz.

"Can too," said Ranger.

"Nu-uhn."

"Yeah-huhn."

"Nuh-uhn."

"Yeah-hunh."

That's basically how the rest of the evening went. I loved seeing Ranger interact with his daughter. This was yet another side to him I'd never seen before. This wasn't batman, this was Dadman. I could tell that he was Jazz's hero. She listened intently to every word he said, no matter what it was about.

Morelli called around nine. "Hey Cupcake, do you still like Miami?"

"I love it. I think I'm going to move here."

"Hmm…Bob wouldn't like that very much."

"Well in that case I'll stay in Trenton. Wouldn't want Bob to be all depressed."

"Yeah well Bob is pretty depressed right now what with you gone. Me and him are just sitting here, missing you."

"Tell Bob I miss him too," I said.

"How's the Jamie hunt?" Morelli wanted to know.

"We're going to snoop around some of Summer's properties and see what we can dig up."

"We? As in you and Ranger? I don't think so. I think you're going to leave the snooping up to him."

Not this again. "Hey she's my sister."

Morelli sighed. He knew he couldn't control me even when I was living with him. Much less me being 1000 miles away.

"Be careful at least. Stick to Ranger and don't go off by yourself. And have your gun."

Probably the one and only time Morelli is telling me to stay close to Ranger. I disconnected and went back out into the living room, where Ranger and Jazz were sitting on the couch, discussing the hypothetical event in which she got a boyfriend.

"What would you do if I got a boyfriend?" Jazz asked, looking up at her father.

"I would tell him to keep his slimy hands off my only daughter," said Ranger.

"You wouldn't!"

"Yeah I would."

"Why! What if he was perfectly nice?"

"I wouldn't know that."

"You would if you met him. And when you meet him you'll probably do a background check on his family and every person they've ever been in contact with in the last decade."

"Century. More accurate," said Ranger.

Jazz rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. So I bring him to meet you and you do the whole stupid background check thing. Then will you let me date?"

"Not until you're sixteen."

"WHAT! NO WAY!"

"Kidding," said Ranger, "I know you're a smart kid and I know you are a good judge of character. But I'll still do a background check."

Jazz's eyes glowed at those words. She saw me coming out of the bedroom. "Hey Steph, who were you talking to?"

"My…er…boyfriend." It wasn't the same when you said it, was it?

"Oooooh what's his name?"

"Joe."

"Is he hot?"

"Absolutely. Not as hot as your dad though." Omigod I can't believe I just said that out loud.

Jazz burst out laughing and Ranger flashed me all 200-watts. "Nice, babe, real nice."

At eleven Tank came to the apartment and told us it was show-time. Ranger sent Jazz to bed and started gearing up.

"If you get shot I'll be really mad at you," said Jazz before disappearing into Ranger's bedroom.

Ranger and Tank buckled on big utility belts chalk full of handcuffs, stun-guns, and one or two guns.

"We're only doing a little B & E tonight, so we're probably not going to need and major weapons, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared," Ranger said when I eyed his guns.

Tank handed me a Sig Sauer. Just like the one I got when I worked at Rangeman. "Do you remember how to use it?" he asked.

"Uh…maybe," I said, taking the gun. And that was the truth. I had no idea if I knew how to use it or not. I pressed a button and the clip fell out and thumped onto the carpet. Tank grinned at me. "I guess not," he said.

Tank gave me a thirty second crash course to jog my memory. Ranger, Tank and I met Jordan in the garage and piled into an SUV. Me and Tank in the back, Ranger and Jordan in the front. Jordan was holding a piece of paper and a map.

"Our first address is on the North side," said Jordan, reading the piece of paper

and looking at the map, "Colon Apartments. 229 NE 2nd Avenue."

The sky was dark but the city was bright. Clubs were opening and people were going out for a night on the town. The attire had changed from swim suits and shorts to hot dresses and jeans. After ten minutes Ranger turned onto 2nd Avenue and parked in front of Colon Apartments. It was redbrick, three stories, and had aluminum framed windows. Didn't look to cheery.

Ranger parked on the curb and everyone silently got out of the car and started suiting up. Nylon webbed gun belts, Kevlar vests, guns, knives, pepper spray, maglights.

"Do you think she's here?" I asked Ranger.

"No."

Oh boy.

I followed Tank, Ranger, and Jordan into the building. Summer was renting out room 214. Ranger rapped on the door once while Tank, Jordan and I stood to the side. No one and answered and Ranger knocked again. When no one answered the second time, Ranger pulled a long, slim tool out of his belt and inserted it into the lock and the lock clicked open. Oh boy. Now I finally get to see how Batman gets a chain off. My heart was beating a little faster than usual because the law-abiding part of my brain was screaming WE'RE GONNA GET ARRESTED! Then the sisterly part of my brain tells it to shut the hell up, beyotch, 'cause we gotta do anything to find Jamie. It turned out that there _was_ no chain, so I was out of luck.

Ranger did a fast walk through of the apartment and motioned us inside. We all snapped on disposable gloves and congregated in the small living room/dining room.

Ranger told us to look for anything to clue us in to Jamie's location. An address, phone number, Polaroid camera, anything. Then we all branched off to search through different rooms.

The one bedroom apartment was small and had the minimum furniture. A card-table the dining room with two fold-out chairs, beat up couch, cheap TV on a shelf. There was a dorm-size fridge in the kitchen and a microwave on the counter. Jack Summer didn't live too well. Tank and I were assigned to the kitchen. We rifled through drawers and papers, looked through the fridge and cabinets. There wasn't much in the apartment. After half an hour we all met in the living room again.

"Anybody find anything?" Ranger asked. Shaking heads all around.

We left the apartment the same way we found it and locked up. Everyone was silent. The hollowness of my stomach was growing. I really wanted to find Jamie.

The next place was a house Summer rented out. It was currently being lived in by a family with two small children. Ranger explained the Cliff's Notes version of the situation to the mother and father and did a quick walkthrough, leaving the rest of us in the SUV. The couple didn't look too trusting. He came out of the house and shook his head at us.

"Fuck," said Tank.

Next up, the mother's house. Summer's mother was currently visiting her sister in Maine, so this was a perfect time. Ranger did the whole knocking-on-the-door-five-times to see if anyone was home, and picked the lock.

"Sometime you have to show me how to do that," I said to Ranger.

The house was one story and full to the brim with flowers. The living room was daisy-themed. Daisy-print slip covers, daisy art, daisy books, daisy pillows, daisy wallpaper. The kitchen had a more tulipy décor. The tiles that lined the backplash had tulips painted on them. The tea-pot cozy was decorated with yellow and red tulips.

The rest of the rooms in the house were roses, pansies, daffodils, and hydrangeas. The only thing it was missing was information. We came up with absolutely nothing.

The ride home was, as usual, silent. Silent was bad. That meant my mind went into overdrive, wondering what kind of horrible things were happing to my baby sister. Instinctively I reached into my shoulder bag and pulled out my cell phone, which I had turned off in honor of our search. I dialed Jamie's number and waited for an answer. Nothing. Her message greeting told me I had reached Jamie and that if I needed any more instructions, well that was just pathetic. "Are you ok?" I asked the phone and then disconnected.

Ranger unlocked our apartment door and I followed him in. He tossed his keys onto the side table and ambled into the kitchen.

"Hungry, babe?" he asked. It was almost two thirty in the morning. I hadn't slept all day. I just flew 1000 miles in not even twenty-four hours. I was exhausted, I felt like any second now I was going to topple over. And yet my stomach was growling.

Ranger pulled out the left-over pizza and shoved it into the microwave.

"Hey Ricky," I said, remembering what Jamie said in her last letter.

Ranger looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "Jamie told me to call you that," I said.

The corners of Ranger's mouth tipped up a fraction. I noticed he was looking more tired than usual. "You should go to sleep," I said.

"I can't yet. I want to eat and then I need to do some more searches. I'll come to bed at some point."

After eating the rest of the pizza I flopped onto my bed without changing. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

---------------------------------

I awoke to the wonderful smell of pancakes. I dragged myself out of the bed and looked at the clock. Eight thirty-eight. I shuffled into the kitchen to see Jazz standing at the stove, pouring pancake batter into a pan. She saw me and grinned.

"Morning sleeping beauty. Care for a pancake?" She gestured at the stack of pancakes stacked on a plate resting on the counter. I forked a couple onto a plate for myself and sat down at the counter, across from Jazz, facing the stove.

"Where's Ranger?" I asked.

"Asleep. He came back at four this morning and tried to sleep only until six but I made him go back to bed."

"And he stayed there?"

"Well I had to lock him in."

I looked over at the door to Ranger's room. The table from the foyer was shoved against it.

"I think he'll be able to get out of that," I said.

Jamie glanced over at the door. "He could, but he won't. I told him to sleep until noon."

Fat chance.

Ranger ended up sleeping until ten. He managed to get out of his room but before he went back up to the control room Jazz made him eat three massive pancakes drowning in syrup.

"Boy, you sure are whipped," I said to Ranger, watching him eat pancakes, "You'll just do _everything_ she tells you to, huh?"

Ranger looked up at me. His face was serious, but his voice was hinting laughter. "Have you ever tried disobeying Jasmine Manoso? It can't be done. She'll eat you alive."

Jazz giggled. "In that case, I don't want to go to school today. I can't anyway, I'm already three hours late."

"You don't have to, but your mother will have my head if you don't." Ranger said to her. As if on cue the phone rang. Ranger grabbed it and answered. "Yo," he said. He listened. "She's going to school, don't worry. She can a couple hours late." He listened some more. "No, I didn't take her on any life-threatening missions last night. I never have, and I never will. I've told you that before." More listening. His eyes darkened. "I know," he growled and then he disconnected.

"What did she say?" Jazz wanted to know.

"She told me I better not let you skip school today. And she wanted to know if I put you in mortal danger last night." And she said something else that had pissed him off but I guess he wasn't going to tell us what it was.

Jazz scowled. "She's annoying."

"She's your mother, you can't blame her."

"It's not like she likes me. She justlikes to be in control.She's sorry she had me," Jazz added. I knew she didn't like her mother, but I could tell she was a little sad about not being wanted.

Jazz looked right at Ranger, her eyes boring into his. "Are you sorry you guys had me?" she said. Uh oh. Maybe I shouldn't be here.

"No," Ranger said firmly. "Not ever. Never will be. Never even thought about it."

Jazz grinned and launched herself across the table at him.

I was recruited to take Jazz to school. We took the Porsche because Jazz said it made her look cool. She gave me directions and we only got lost once. After I dropped Jazz off I had a little trouble finding my way back to the office. Finally I got so fed up I pulled over and parked in an empty spot along the curb and hauled out my cell phone.

"I think I'm lost," I said to Ranger when he answered.

"Babe, you're two blocks away. Just keep going straight and turn left into the parking garage."

"Oh."

"Don't get lost," Ranger said and disconnected.

I was about to pull away from the curb again when my cell phone chirped.

"Forget something?" I asked Ranger.

"You better hope you can find your sister soon, Stephanie, or she's gonna get it." Said Jack Summer. Definitely _NOT_ Ranger.

"WAIT! Let me talk to her! Where are you?"

"Sorry. If you want to see her alive you'll bring 800,000 dollars to Mike's Auto tonight at twelve thirty. And you'll come alone, or she swims with the fishes."

As appalled I was to hear him saying that cheesy line, that didn't distract me from paying attention. I pressed the pedal to the floor and shot from the curb.

I'm going on a ten day cruise next week. (leaving the 22nd) so I'm probably only going to write one or maybe two more chapters and then I'll write some more


	5. Tip: Make friends with your captors

One more chappie before the CRUUUUISE! Ah...ha. That was fun. So anywho hee'ya eez **Chapter Five**...

I took the stairs two at a time, the adrenaline pumping in my veins. I crashed through the fifth-story stairwell door and stumbled into the control room.

Everyone looked up at me and Ranger raised an eyebrow. "Summer called me." I managed to squeeze out.

Ranger grabbed me and led me over to a chair. "What did he say?"

I relayed the message. Ranger stood up and started doing what he did best. "He told you to go alone but that's the last thing you'll be," Ranger said to me, "You'll be wearing a wire, but can't hide it under your shirt. It has to go somewhere Summer won't think of." I nodded. Ranger brought up a map of the streets around Mike's Auto on the computer. "Tank and I will be in an SUV one street over. Jordan and Dale will be one street over in the opposite direction." He looked at me. "Did Summer say if he wanted the money in cash?"

I shook my head. "He didn't say anything about that." Ranger nodded. "That means he wants cash."

Holy crap. Eight hundred thousand in cash? That's a shitload of money. Where were we going to get that? Am I supposed to donate any money? Was it going to be in briefcase or a bag? What if he finds out I'm not alone? Was Jamie alive?

The next few hours flew by in a blur of color. Ranger held an emergency meeting in the conference room and they planned out what they were going to do that night. I was so stressed out I barely listened. All I knew was that I was going to drive the Porsche to Mike's Auto at twelve-thirty with a briefcase full of cash. I was going see Jamie unharmed before I handed the briefcase over and then Ranger and Co. were going to crash the party. That was the part that made me most uneasy. This was my baby sister we were talking about. Summer told me to come alone, and dangnabbit I wanted to do anything he said just so Jamie wasn't hurt. But I Ranger was a professional and I trusted the hell out of him so I guess I would have to live with it.

I was back in my and Ranger's apartment eating a late lunch when Ranger walked in. He looked at me and the line of his mouth tightened.

"You're looking a little stressed there, Babe," he said.

Ha. I was BEYOND stressed. I was this close to a nervous breakdown. I just shrugged, knowing that if I spoke my voice would be all high a squeaky.

"Do you want to go pick Jazz up from school? That might help get your mind off of everything."

I sighed. "Sure, but I'll probably get lost again."

-----------------------------------------------------------

I took the SUV this time, because the Porsche was in use. I parking in front of the school and waited for the bell to ring. Five minutes later a tsunami of kids poured out of the school, and I saw Jazz among them. She saw the SUV and grinned, making her way through the crowd. She was almost to the car when she was snagged from behind by her backpack by a bigger kid. He was the typical bully. Big, fat, stupid-looking, with a small pack of cronies who'll do anything he says. Jazz was fighting pretty well by the time I made my way through the mass of high-schoolers and middle-schoolers. The big bully had Jazz's backpack turned upside-down and was dumping stuff onto the ground. He only looked a couple years older than her, but she was fighting hard as his cronies held her back.

"This is what happens when you annoy me, Williams," the kid said to Jazz.

She spat in his face. "Oh you're so tough, you can beat up a backpack! You're just a coward! If your stupid monkey-slaves weren't here I would be pounding you into the ground!" I didn't doubt it one bit.

The kid wiped the spit off his face. "You're gonna get it if you don't watch yourself," he started to reach for her and I figured it was time for Wonder Woman to intervene.

"Hey kid, just give her back her backpack," I said.

He looked at me and laughed. "Make me," he said. He must have been in 8th grade. Stupid kid.Jazz took this moment of distraction to stomp on her captor's feet and launch herself at the kid. They toppled over together and the cronies just stood around not knowing what to do. I pushed my way through the kids and got a hold of Jazz's shirt and hauled her up. The big kid and his cronies decided that this wasn't fun anymore so they threw glares at me and Jazz and wandered away. Jazz had done a decent amount of damage to the leader kid. Scratch on his cheek, beginnings of a black eye.

"Nice," I said, helping Jazz pick up a bunch of fallen papers. She grinned at me. "Thanks. Tank taught me how to punch."

Jazz followed me back to the car. "So have you found Jamie yet?" she asked, climbing into the front seat.

"Eh…no, well, sortof."

Jazz looked at me. "Well?"

"Well…it's sortof a ransom kinda thing now. We're getting her back tonight." Hopefully. No need to scare anyone…myself mainly.

"Ransom? How much?" asked Jazz, not looking the least bit worried.

"Eight hundred thousand," I said.

"Wow. Jamie'll be happy."

We were stopped at a light and I turned to Jazz, raising an eyebrow.

Jazz laughed at me. "She'll be happy that she's worth 800,000. The last time she was ransomed it was only 50,000."

"When was the last time she was ransomed?" I asked.

Jazz shrugged. "I couple years ago I guess. Dad told me about it."

"When your mom showed up yesterday at the school she called you Jazz Williams. Ranger calls you Jazz Manoso. Which one is it?" I asked.

"My mom changed her last name back to Willliams when she and my dad got divorced. I'm registered as Williams but I like Manoso better. So Dad calls me Manoso and so does the rest of his family. I'm a Manoso at heart."

----------------------------------------------------

I stopped at McDonald's before heading back to the office. Jazz and I took the elevator to the fourth floor and hung out in the apartment for a while. Ranger joined us around 4:30.

"Jazz beat a kid up," I said to Ranger. Jazz looked like a puppy who got caughtchewing up a chair. Probably was scared Ranger would be mad. Ranger looked down at her on the couch.

"Did he deserve it?"

"Yesterday he gave my best friend a swirly and today he dumped all my papers on the ground." (AN: just in case you don't know, a swirly is when you stick someone's head down the toilet and flush :-D…not much fun, let me tell you)

Ranger nodded. "Good for you."

Jazz grinned at him.

"Now go do your homework. And think up a good alibi. Your mother will have heard about this by now and she'll be on my back so I need an excuse." Jazz grinned wider and stood up with a salute, "Aye-aye, captain!" she said and disappeared into the kitchen with her backpack.

"Do we have a plan for tonight?" I asked Ranger. We had already gone over this, but Ranger knew how spaced out and stressed I was so he repeated it for me.

"Tank, Jordan, Dale, and I are leaving at ten to get in our places early. You leave here at eleven thirty. You want to get to Mike's Auto before Summer does. He'll probably know you're not alone and do something stupid, so you want to be careful."

Oh boy.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next few hours were more nerve-wracking than the first time I rear-ended someone and had to pay for the damage. Jazz did her homework, Ranger did whatever the hell he does; and I paced, watched TV, paced some more, took a shower, made a sandwich, paced some more, watched a little more TV, and was back to pacing when Ranger, Tank, Dale, and Jordan sauntered into the apartment. Ranger was holding a black briefcase. The money. Crap. I still needed to ask him how much I should contribute.

"Nervous, Babe?" Ranger asked me.

"Not in the least," I said, a tad squeakily, "why do you ask?"

Jordan grinned, Tank looked like he was considering thinking about smiling, Dale looked like he didn't understand a word of English, and Ranger just looked amused.

"You're going to wear a hole in the carpet if you keep pacing like that," said Ranger.

I sent him a half-hearted glare and sunk onto the couch. Ranger sat down next to me and slung an arm around my shoulders. "She'll be fine."

I nodded. My heart was tap dancing in my chest and there was an annoying lump in my throat. Ranger squeezed my shoulder, "We're leaving now. Just one more hour and you'll be on your way. Don't work yourself into a frenzy, Babe, I've done this before. Jamie was caught by a couple mob guys and she was ransomed. She didn't really know what was going on, they had spiked all her drinks and were playing strip poker by the time the drop-off was made." I managed a smile.It's just like Jamie to make friends with her captors, that's for sure. Rangertook a small key out of his pocket and pressed it into my hand. "The key to the briefcase," he said. I looked at him.

"I want to help pay some of this," I said. Originally I was just going to ask him how much he wanted, but I knew he wouldn't accept. Ranger stared at me for a beat.

"We'll discuss that afterward," he said. Ranger stood up, kissed me on the forehead, and left with Jordan, Tank, and Dale at his heels.

I went into the kitchen and sat down next to Jazz at the kitchen table. "How's life?" I asked her.

She was bent over a piece of paper with a bunch of math problems in it. She shrugged. "Okay, I guess."

God what I would give to be in sixth grade again. "How's middle school treatin' ya?"

Another shrug. "It's okay. It's kinda fun with high-schoolers but there are a lot of bullies." She rolled her eyes. "Like the one you saw today, they all think they can pick on me 'cause I'm small." I had to laugh at that.

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An hour later I was all wired up and on my way to Mike's Auto. I did a wire check and Ranger called me back and said he could smell the smoke burning all the way from where he was so stop thinking so much. I managed a weak smile and disconnected.

I was about to turn left onto the street where Mike's Auto was when my cell phone chirped. Miami traffic was really irritating me so I groped around in my bag for my phone and answered it without looking at the read-out.

"Shit Stephanie TURN AROUND! Don't go anywhere NEAR Mike's Auto you hear me? TURN THE FUCK AROUND!" yelled Jamie.

What the fuck? My brain went blank and I pulled a U-Turn in the middle of the busy street—miraculously without crashing. Jamie had hung up so I followed suit. I had no idea what was going on and I knew Ranger would be wondering as well from hearing all the horns blaring. As if on cue my phone chirped again.

"Get lost?" Ranger asked.

"I…uh…Jamie…er…um…" I said.

"What's wrong?" His voice was tight.

"Uh…nothing…erm…God, just hang on a second!" I yelled and threw the phone onto the seat next to me while I maneuvered into a parking lot. Once parked, I picked the phone back up again and took a couple of deep breaths, trying to register what just happened.

So I'm leaving this Thursday and won't be back untill next year! (aaahahahahaha) But I'll be writing a'pleanty on zee boat...that is if I'm not basking in the sun, chasing after hot guys, eating, sleeping, realxing...you know the drill (wink)

--Bowlingforshrimp


	6. Meanwhilewith Jamie

**HOOOOOOOO boy the cruise was FUUUUUUN! Best new year's, by far. Drunk british people...drunk people in general..._I_ am proud to say that I didn't have ANY alcohol...other than the champagne that was sprayed all over me...and I didn't write much (oopsie) cuz I was having SO MUCH FUN! hahha I learned a bunch of English vocabulary...like nob and chip and crisp and fit and dobber. Two of my best friends on the cruise were these English twins from West Yorkshier...both gothammered on New years...pretty awesome. Well here is the...sixth chapter! WAHOO! It's Jamie's point of view...so...have fun**

**ps, Jamie calls her friend in London in this chappie...and if you're english and reading this Don't laugh at me for my weak attempt at English vocabulary...I'm just a stupid American who doens't know nothin.**

Jamie's POV

Aaaaaaaaaah…Moonshining in the middle of a swamp in Georgia. A week ago I arrived in Atlanta, Georgia. This guy I met in some bar in the Caribbean told me about his fabulous moonshine and invited me to try some. So what could I do? I'm always up for illegal activity…especially when it involves alcohol, my party-time necessity (line from Alcohol, Bear Naked Ladies).

Anywho, so I had to tell all my friends and family that I'm going to South America and wouldn't be in contact 'cause this guy, Martin Humberg, wants the location of his still to be a secret. It's not like I lied. I was in the south of _North_ America, I just left out the north. We flew up to Atlanta and then I was blindfolded and stun-gunned. I mean, this guy _could_ have been a psycho-rapist who wanted to keep me as his sex slave…but I was lucky. He was actually telling the truth. And let me tell you, that was the best goddamn moonshine I'd ever had.

I wasn't completely out of contact, anyhow. I still had my phone on. I _always_ answer my phone, no matter what. One time I was running away from these poachers in Africa carrying their elephant rifles and my phone rang. I answered, of course, and it turned out to be a telemarketer. So I kept my phone on but I figured that if I told people to try not to call me 'cause I wouldn't answer, they wouldn't call. Clearly I was wrong.

It was a beautiful fall morning in Brandy Bay. I had finally figured out where we were, mostly from Martin getting so drunk he would answer anything. I wasn't feeling to pretty that morning, mostly 'cause I had the mother off all hangovers. I shuffled through theleaves and twigs and other such debristo the remains of our fire the night before. There were only two rules for visiting Martin's Still. One: What Happens at the Still Stays at the Still; and Two: Whoever Wakes up First Makes Breakfast. I was up first, so I got to make breakfast. Goody for me. I struck a match, dropped it on some twigs in our fire pit, and cracked some eggs into a pan. While the eggs were cooking I checked the messages on my cell phone. There was one from my older sister, Stephanie. "Are you okay?" she asked.

I rolled my eyes. I knew no matter what I did, she would wig out. I guess I could ignore it.

The rest of the day was spent getting over a hangover for more drinking that night. I'm surprised I haven't died from alcohol poisoning yet. What's with that? There were a bunch of different variations of drinks to try and Martin said we had to getshit-faced every night, and sober up everyday. I spent the day hunting for cool-looking snakes or other wildlife. I took a bunch of pictures, saving them to send to Stephanie.

Around sunset I was drunk enough to do something really stupid. I called an old friend from London to tell her about this GREAT moonshine I was drinking. It was two o'clock AM her time, and when she answered she sounded like she just woke up.

"Heya Cassie," I lengthening the 's'.

"God Jamie you sound pissed," she told me.

"Yeah you better believe it, baby. This here's the best-tastin' stuff I've ever…haded…hade? Haved. Tha's the one. Haved."

Cassie laughed at me. "Jamie, you nobhead. I thought you were kidnapped."

"I am? Tha's news ta me."

"Your gorgeous friend Ranger phoned me. He said you were kidnapped and asked me if I knew where you were."

I frowned at my phone. Kidnapped? The last time I had been kidnapped was….Jack Summer. I hadn't seen him in a while. But I had talked to him a couple weeks ago and he had threatened Steph.

"Bu….I'm not kidnapped…" I said, utterly perplexed. If I had been sober it would have clicked into place a lot faster.

"Ranger said Jack Summer mailed him a picture of you all beaten up."

"Ah really? I 'member when he took that picture….that was…a couple…years…AW SHIT." That's when it hit me. It was a trap. Fuck.

"D'ya know where they are?" I yelled at Cassie.

"You don't have to yell, luv, he said he was in Florida."

"ARG. I havta go, Cass, see ya later," I said and hung up. Martin had passed out next to the fire and I staggered over to him and kicked him in the ribs.

"Uunnnhg…" he groaned.

"Marty wake up! I need the keys to your car." He was so drunk he would do anything for me. He handed me the keys to the car and I took off, through the brush. I had to be careful of snakes and crocs, but in my drunkenness I wasn't really paying attention.

I tore out of the little abandoned road at the edge of the swamp. Even though I was three sheets to the wind, I could still drive well. I've always been able to drive well, it didn't matter if I was drunk or sober or high. At midnight I stopped at a McDonald's for a coke, large fries, three hamburgers, and a twenty-piece chicken nugget. I stopped at a pay phone(to save my phone battery)and called my friend Kiley in Quebec. She was one of my best friends. We met in Key West a couple weeks after I met Ranger. He surely would have called her.

"'Lo…?" she answered huskily. I winced. I had forgotten what time it was.

"Sorry. It's Jamie," I said.

"Jamie? I thought you were kidnapped?"

"That's what I heard. Did Ranger call you?"

"Tank did. He and Ranger are in Miami."

I swore. That was still about 200 miles away. "Did he say anything else?"

"Errrm…no, just that they couldn't find you. I told them you told me you would be in South America. Where were you anyway?"

I grinned to myself. "A still in Georgia."

I could feel her rolling her eyes. "One of these days, Jamie Rose, one of these days." I laughed.

"Well I gotta go Kiley-poo, see ya later."

"Alright. Come visit me sometime."

"Will do, oh princess," I said and hung up. Miami, huh? I could do 200 miles in four hours. I would get there by four am. And then I would have to find them. But find Jack first. ARG. My life is so freaking complicated.

By four twelve I hit Miami city limits. I knew Ranger would have searched all of Jack's residences…except the one only I knew about, have being held there for three miserable days a while ago. The highway was all blocked up from some accident, so it wasn't untilfive that I actually got _into_ the city. I knew Ranger's brother had an office in the downtown area, but from being hit in the head so many times I had a horrible memory and couldn't for the life of me remember where is was. So I decided to visit my dear friend Jacky-Poo first.

I parked in front of the old warehouse on the other side of town. It had taken me THREE FREAKING HOURS TO GET THERE. Two accidents plus Miami traffic. I was still pretty wired from all that moonshine but mostly it was out of my system. Now I was just left with nausea and a killer head ache. OH boy. I angled out of the old nameless sedan and crunched up the gravel lot to the warehouse, stopping in front of the big metal sliding door. I pounded on the door. "Hey Jack, you JERK are you in there?" I hollered. I know I should be scared and all, but hey, I was under the influence.

With a screech that almost knocked me out, the door slid open. "What the fuck are _you_ doing here? I thought you were in South America." Jack asked me. I blinked away the clanging in my brain and pushed past him into the warehouse.

"I was….kind of. I was in Georgia, so that's still south and in America, right?" I turned and grinned at him. I wasn't really scared of this guy. Sure, he's beaten me to a pulp, shot me, stunned me, tear-gassed me; hell, he's even thrown a grenade at me. But for some reason I just wasn't scared. I knew in my gut that I'd always get away, no matter what.

"So," I went on, looking around. It wasn't a very big structure. There was a TV, couch, card table, and a bunch of old abandoned junk left over from when this place used to be a storage unit. It was also Jack's weapon arsenal. I turned back to Jack, standing there, glowering at me. "You sent an old picture of me to Ranger, knowing he'd come rescue me and bring Stephanie along. And then I'm assuming you're going to hold me for ransom, right? And you'll ask her to come alone. And then when she comes to make the drop you'll kidnap and/or kill her and take the money. How well did I do?"

He lunged at me, something I had been expecting. We both got some good hits in. But like every other time in the past, he was a lot bigger than me and had the advantage. I managed to protect my face okaybut I felt some ribs crack. Finally he stood up and brushed himself off.

"That was rude," I said, head pounding beyond belief. I assessed the damage on myself while Jack disappeared from view. A couple of cracked ribs, bruises all over my arms, and what I assumed to be two black eyes. Jolly. I closed my eyes for a moment. Boy, I don't think I'd ever been this stupid. I should have contacted Stephanie first thing. Well shit, I tried. She didn't answer her phone. ARG. Why didn't I call Ranger or Tank? Because I was shit-faced, that's why. Fuck, I'm a moron. I opened my eyes again when I felt boot connect with rib and heard an ominous crunch. I groaned and glared at Jack.

"Maybe not," he said, referring to my afore deduction of his plan, "Maybe I _will_ just hold you for ransom and then take the money. Maybe I'll kill you anyway." I rolled my eyes. I couldn't help it. This dude has told me he was going to kill me SO MANY times over the last five years. And guess what! I WAS STILL ALIVE! My mental tirade stopped when Jack bent over and pressed something to my arm. A ratherglorious firework show blew up in front of my eyes and everything went black.

When I woke up I knew I was handcuffed to the wall. Mostly 'cause I couldn't feel my left arm. Jack was no where to be seen. And judging by the light coming through the windows, I assumed it was mid morning. Christ, he had only stun-gunned me, why the hell was I out so long? Probably 'cause he just beat you a pulp, genius, I thought. Not to mention I was pretty hung over. And the stupid headache from the stun-gun wasn't helping much.

Jack was getting stupid in his old age (actually, I didn't know how old he was, but humor me), he had only chained my left hand to the wall. I rolled my eyes. What a moron. I reached up and felt around in my glove (it was one of those that only goes halfway up your fingers) for a bobby pin. DAMMIT. It wasn't there! Maybe he wasn't getting so stupid after all….I looked around, looking for some scrap of metal. I felt around on the floor. Nope. Nothing. Fruck. I had some lock-picking stuff in my bag…I looked around again. GODAMMIT. Bag was on the other side of the room. I sighed and slumped back against the wall. Might as well go back to sleep.

When I woke up again I heard Jack talking on the phone. He must have thought I was still passed out because he wasn't talking any lower, so I just kept my eyes shut and listened.

"…800,000 dollars to Mike's Auto tonight at twelve thirty she swims with the fishes." What a cliché line. Loser. Jack's head snapped around and he looked at me. He walked over and gave me a good kick in the ribs. Ouch. Guess I said 'loser' out loud.

"Well it's true," I said weakly, a smartass to the last, "I mean, who uses 'sleeps with the fishes' anymore? Totally last year."

Jack shook his head, smiling evilly. "We'll see what you have to say when I bring your sister here." He said and stun-gunned me again. The bastard.

When I woke up _again,_ the sun was in my eyes. I grumbled and squinched my eyes shut and passed out again. When I woke up next I knew I couldn't waste any more time sleeping. The sun had gone down and I didn't know what time it was. Not to mention I still needed to get out of this hand-cuff. My entire left arm and shoulder was numb and aching. I felt around in my pocket with my right arm. Nothing. GODDAMIT. I drew my knees up and felt around in my shoes. AHA! PAPER CLIP TO THE RESCUE! Later I'll ask myself why the hell I had a paper clip in my shoe. At the moment I had to unbend the stupid paper clip and shove it into the little key-hole.

Several minutes of swearing, pleading, swearing some more, and finally making deals, the cuff snapped open. Hurray for me. I spent a while rubbing life into my left arm and then got up and stretched. I was hungry as a football player and probably could eat one. After routing around Jack's mini-fridge I grabbed my bag. My gun, blackjack, dirk, and nun-chucks were gone so I took one of Jack's guns. I peeked out the ware-house door to see if Jack was coming home. Probably not, since it was nine-thirty. SHIT. I only had THREE HOURS to get to Mike's Auto and I was on the outskirts of town! FUCK. I hopped into my car (which Jack had stupidly left there, unscathed. I swear that man doesn't take me seriously) and shot out of the little gravel lot.

Two hours later I was nearing Mike's Auto. It had taken a lot of detours and honking to get here this fast. Now what to do? Knowing Ranger, he's probably told Stephanie that while she appears to be alone at the drop…she's wearing a wire and he's parked a block away. And he probably told her to get there early. I looked at my watch. SHIT. Eleven thirty. She might already be there. I snatched my phone out of my bag and dialed Stephanie.

I didn't even wait until she answered. "SHIT Stephanie TURN AROUND! Don't go anywhere NEAR Mike's Auto, do you hear me? TURN THE FUCK AROUND!" I hung up the phone and looked around at the cars. I saw a black SUV do a U-turn. BINGO. I followed it to a parking lot.

eh...heh...


	7. Uh oh Ranger's pissed

**TA DA! I finally updated! I'm sorry it took so long, but don't expect another chapter any time soon. This whole next week is IT week, which means...lots and lots of work. We do get early release, so I might be able to write some more. I am also working on some more Ranger & Jamie stories, and I'm almost finished with those. So here is chapter six.**

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"Stephanie? Are you okay?" Use of name. Probably envisioning horrible things.

"Jamie just called me and told me to stay away from Mike's Auto so I guess she's not being held captive," I said breathlessly. My head was swimming and I had no idea what was going on. I couldn't even understand what Ranger was saying to me. All of a sudden there was a rap on the passenger side window and I shrieked in surprise. Jamie shook her head and climbed in.

"Stephanie? What was that? Are you okay?" Ranger yelled over the phone.

"Erm…I…Uh…" I was just gaping at Jamie. Looking grim, she took the phone from my hand.

"Heya Ranger, what's up?" Silence. "Yeah it was a trap. I just found out about it yesterday and it took me a while to find out where you and Steph were." More silence. "Okay." She disconnected, sighed, and slouched back in her seat.

I was still gaping at her. Wasn't she being held for ransom? Jamie looked at me and smiled tiredly. "How much was I worth this time?" she asked.

"Eight hundred thousand," I said automatically.

Jamie laughed. "Nice. Ranger said to meet him back at the office. I'll explain everything there."

Without another word I pulled out of the parking lot and headed back toward the office.

Ranger, Jordan, and Tank were waiting for us in the underground garage. Tank pounced on Jamie the instant she got out of the car, pulling her into a bear hug.

"Ulk," said Jamie, arms pinned to her sides.

"Jesus kid, you scared us," Tank said, squeezing her until she squeaked.

"You're going to break her ribs," said Jordan. He couldn't stop grinning.

"A little too late for that," gasped Jamie once Tank let her go.

Ranger had his arms crossed over his chest and stared at Jamie. "Care to explain?"

Jamie looked really tired. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she looked seriously hung-over. The circles looked more like black eyes. Bruises dotted her arms and she was holding her sides. Probably Tank _did _break some ribs, but from what she said I guess some were already broken. She winced at Ranger's intense stare. "Can't I sleep first?" Ranger shook his head. I glared at Ranger. Stephanie Plum, protective big-sister to the rescue.

"Let her sleep. She can explain later."

Ranger stared at me for a second, probably wondering weather he should overrule me or face my wrath. Finally he sighed and turned back to Jamie. "Fine. But first thing in the morning, you're explaining."

She saluted. "Aye, aye, captain!" she turned to me. "So what room are you staying in?"

I took Jamie up to the apartment I was sharing with Ranger. I slid the card-key into the lock and opened the door to the sound of cartoons.

"Did you get her, did you get her?" Jazz came bouncing into the foyer. She yelled happily when she saw Jamie and jumped for her.

"Ah, not now kiddo," said Jamie, holding Jazz back, "I gotta 'bout five broken ribs and a mother of a hangover. What I need now is sleep."

"Fine, then. Was it fun being held ransom?"

"I wasn't being held ransom. It was a trap. I'll tell you tomorrow if you make me pancakes," said Jamie and she wandered off into the bedroom.

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The next morning (well, afternoon really, seeing as we couldn't get Jamie out of bed before noon) saw Ranger, Tank, Jordan, and me sitting around a card table watching Jamie make her way through a stack of pancakes. She had refused to speak before she ate. Ranger had already driven Jazz to school, much to her protest. The pancakes disappeared with alarming speed and Jamie sat back and sighed, stretching her bruised limbs.

"Well?" Ranger asked.

"It was a trap, obviously," Jamie said, "The picture you received was from a couple years ago when Jack got a hold of me. I can't remember why he took that picture but oh well."

"I thought you were in South America," I said.

Jamie grinned at me. She looked a lot better this morning. Not hung over. "I was. I was in the Southern region of North America. I was in Georgia, testing moonshine."

I rolled my eyes. I should have guessed.

Jamie's expression turned serious. "That isn't the point now. Jack is still out there. And since you didn't show up last night, he'll know I escaped and be really hacked off. Not his best mood, ya know."

"Ah," I said.

Jamie told us about the old warehouse where Jack chained her to a wall and about driving all the way there from Georgia. Ranger looked at her and I could see a little anger in his eyes.

"You should have called one of us. We all thought you were unconscious somewhere and spent a lot of time and money looking for you."

Jamie looked ashamed and stared down at the table. "I know. I was stupid. Not to mention drunk out of my mind." She looked back up at Ranger. "But you weren't all wrong. I _was_ unconscious for most of the time."

Ranger still looked a little angry but didn't press the issue. "Where do you think Jack would have gone when he realized Stephanie wasn't coming?"

Jamie leaned back in her chair. "He probably would have gone back to the wear-house. But once he found me gone he'd have known that I ratted him out…so he's probably out of the country by now."

"You think?" asked Ranger, raising an eyebrow.

Jamie shrugged. "Either that or going to Trenton to find someone else to hold ransom. The last time I talked to him he said he was going to kill me and Stephanie both." She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. "Who knows why though, she never did anything to him."

That was true. I didn't do anything to him. He destroyed three of my pillows but I never did anything to him.

"Probably it's because he hates everything about me so he wants to kill everyone I've ever so much as glanced at," Jamie said bitterly.

"So what do you think we should do?" Ranger asked Jamie. She knew Summer the best so she would know what to do.

"I think we should go back to Trenton and chill until Jack shows himself again."

"Do you honestly think he'll go back to Trenton?" Ranger asked her.

"No, but he's definitely not going to stay here, so what's the point of us staying?"

Ranger stared at Jamie for a beat. "I guess we're going back to Trenton, then."

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Ranger picked Jazz up from school right after our meeting so he could spend some quality time alone with her before we left. The Merry Men went off to do whatever the hell they do and Jamie and I retreated back to the apartment. Jamie sighed heavily and slumped onto the couch, lying back with her arm over her eyes. I flopped into an armchair.

"Ranger is pissed," Jamie mumbled, "I'm going to get my head bitten off."

"Do you really think he's that mad? At least you're okay." I had noticed it too. I've never seen Ranger really mad before, but during the meeting I could feel theanger seeping from him.

"That's not the point," Jamie said, looking at me, "The point is that I got to Miami at four in the morning and was too stupid to call one of you. Ranger doesn't like it when his employees are stupid, especially when it's a life or death situation. He thought I was being held ransom, and he was worried about me, when in reality I was drunk off my rocker and going after Jack. If I'm lucky, I won't be fired."

"Are you still one of his employees? I thought you just had a job when you were in Trenton the first time, and when you left I just assumed you quit."

Jamie grinned at me. "Are you kidding me? I've been a Rangeman employee since I was eighteen. I was Ranger's secret weapon when we were going undercover."

"Wow."

"Yeah, well, don't be too impressed because I might not have the job for very much longer. Ranger doesn't often hand out second chances."

"I remember Ranger telling me that if I didn't carry my gun around, he'd fire me," I said, thinking about a while ago when I worked for him.

"I never had a problem with the gun thing. Mostly I got in trouble for leaving tacks on his seat or something."

"He's a hard boss."

"No freaking kidding. I am dead meat when Ranger gets back."

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Ranger got back that night and immediately called Jamie into his office. We had been watching Ghostbusters in the apartment with Jordan and Tank. When the call came in Jamie looked like she was on her way to death row. She sighed heavily, told us it was nice knowing us, and left, slamming the door behind her.

I looked over at Tank and Jordan. "You don't think he'll be too hard on her, do you?"

Jordan looked grim. "I'm not entirely sure, but Jamie looked pretty nauseous when she was on the phone with him, so I'm guessing he was pretty mad."

Tank nodded in agreement. "He doesn't like using unnecessary effort and money. And he also doesn't like to worry."

Eek.

**Jamie's POV**

Ah. Shit. I was just sitting on the couch in the Rangeman apartment with Stephanie when the boss himself called my cell.

"Howdy," I said.

"In my office. Now." Ranger growled. And then he hung up. Shee-it.

I stood up and looked at Stephanie, Jordan, and Tank. "Well, it was nice knowing you all," I said, and then I left.

I pressed the button for the elevator. Ranger's office was on the sixth floor. We were on the fourth. I could have taken the stairs, except I wanted to take as much time as possible getting there. That probably would make Ranger more mad, but…The elevator doors opened and I stepped inside. Ranger has a computer in his office so he could monitor all the security cameras, and he could probably see me banging my head against the elevator wall. After an eternity, there was the tell-tale _bing_ that announced the arrival at floor six. Wonderful.

I stood outside of Ranger's office door, debating weather to knock or bolt. I've been lectured by Ranger before, but somehow this was different. I finally came to the conclusion to knock, and waited for Ranger to say "come in" before opening the door. I wasn't really scared of him. I just didn't like it when he lectured me. We've had our share of fights, but we always got over them. Ranger doesn't like grudges. So I knew that after this chewing-out I would be home free.

I took a deep breath and went in, nodding to Ranger before sitting in one of the leather office chairs in front of his desk. He was sitting in his big leather swivel chair, leaned back with his elbows resting on the arm rests, fingers steepled together. He looked very badass in a tight black T-shirt and black cargos. I was still wearing what I was wearing back in Georgia. Jeans, and tank top, and a jacket. Ranger knew I knew what was coming, and he knew that I knew how stupid I had been. And that was a good thing, because then he didn't have to go through the whole Do you know why I called you here? dealio. The silence stretched by. I was sitting there, staring at my hands. I hated when Ranger was pissed at me. It made me feel embarrassed and nervous.

"I've never pegged you as an idiot, Jamie," Ranger began, and I jumped about three feet in the air.

"Me neither," I answered, "but I'm kinda rethinking that."

Ranger stared at me, obviously not amused. Crap. I just fed the fire.

"As I was saying," he continued, "I've never thought of you as incompetent or stupid, ever. The reason I hired you was because even though you were so young, you were smart and fearless and you had good instincts. But the story you told me today marked you as a thoughtless, selfish, over confidant moron. You thought you could just take Summer on, without even bothering to contact me or Stephanie to let us know you weren't dead."

Ouch. So far he's called me an idiot, stupid, selfish, over confident, and a moron. He's on a roll now. I opened my mouth to try to justify my actions: I was drunk out of my mind; but Ranger interrupted.

"Don't you even think about using the fact that you were drunk as an excuse," Ranger said, narrowing his eyes, "I've seen you do things shit-faced that I wouldn't even have done sober."

I held back a smile. It was true. I've pulled some pretty wicked stunts when I've been drunk.

The rest of the lecture passed by painfully slowly. I was called a few more synonyms of "stupid", and wondered if Ranger had studied a thesaurus before calling me in here. I probably would have voiced that out loud if Ranger hadn't been so pissed.

"You can keep the job," Ranger said finally, "But if you do something like this again, don't expect me to give you another chance."

I sighed in relief and looked up at Ranger, smiling a little. "I wasn't really expecting another chance, anyway."

A smile twitched at the corners of Ranger's mouth. Hurray. He wasn't mad anymore. "I'm only giving you another chance now because this is a one time thing, and it would be a bigger loss to me if I let you go."

"What, you don't think I wouldn't help you out even if I wasn't an official employee?" I asked him. I had done numerous jobs for him before he actually signed me on as a Rangeman employee.

This time the smile was clearly evident. "Probably, but I get more insurance when you get hurt, if you're an employee."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh so this is about the money and not the love for me? I should have guessed."

I stood up and turned to leave, but right when I got to the door I was spun around and crushed into a giant bear-hug.

"You scared the hell out of me, Jamie," Ranger said, his voice muffled by my hair, "You know I hate when I get pictures of you beaten bloody in the mail."

I smiled into Ranger chest and hugged him back. "Yeah, I know, but this time I didn't know about it. I only found out when I called Cassie and she told me I was kidnapped."

I pulled back and looked up at Ranger. He was smiling. "I bet that was a big surprise."

I snorted. "Don't you know it. For a second there I thought I was a clone or something."

Ranger laughed and pushed me towards the door. "Go get some sleep, Jamie, we leave early tomorrow."

My hand was on the doorknob when I stopped, turned, grabbed Ranger's shirt, pulled his face down to mine, and kissed him for all I was worth. I pulled back before Ranger could take control, grinned at him, and left.

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So...yea.


End file.
